The Auburn Pitts Thursday Thoughts for 1/14/2016
2016-01-14
Joe Bell and Brady host Manchester West
By Dave Haley
We’re back to preview the biggest games of the weekend and our coverage continues Friday night when we will bring you all the highlights and post-game interviews from Portsmouth Christian/Epping and Manchester West/Bishop Brady.
We have begun to hear from some of the parents of the players we cover. The videos you watch and even previews & columns like this one are only a small part of the work that goes into our website and in the last week we’ve started to hear from you parents out there. Parents, that wanted to support all the free work we do and content we provide, with their son. We hope that it is a trend that continues. Thank you very much to Kevin & Colby Wilson of Epping, Brian & Corey Gadwah of Groveton, Bill & Ben Olson of Pinkerton, Brian & Matt Quirk of Bishop Brady and Jamie & Austin Lesperance of Groveton. All of them will appear together on our Season Highlight Videos (two of them this year) with the other Gold Level Members of our team.
Division I
Merrimack (4-1) at Exeter (3-1)
I warned everyone in the pre-season that if you attempted to draw too many conclusions from the night to night results of Division I you’d be dealing with a serious popsicle headache.
Try following this: Merrimack beats Bedford by 25 points, Bishop Guertin then beats Merrimack by 17, only to then turn around and lose to Nashua South by 35…..a Nashua South team that lost to Pinkerton..who lost to Winnacunnet….who just lost to Bedford.
Do you want to keep doing this? Good neither do I.
You get the point. So don’t be shocked that Londonderry beat Exeter fairly easily Tuesday night (in our Game of the Week) because it’s all about how teams match up with one another. In this one I’ll save my pick until forced to name a team in staff picks tomorrow but you have to like the way Merrimack matches up with Exeter. Expect Merrimack head coach Tim Goodridge to assign Andrew Wojack to either Cody Morissette (17.5 ppg) or Bryant Holmes (19.3). The Tomahawks come in with the top rated defense in Division I (44.6 ppg allowed) and this is a game they want in the 50’s.
Manchester Central (4-0) at Pinkerton Academy (4-1)
Central head coach Doc Wheeler and Pinkerton head coach Peter Rosinski have been squaring off for over a decade. That gives each of them a pretty good sense of what the guy at the other end of the sideline is up to. Central has had a very good track record of being able to turn the Astros three quarter pressure into good looks at the other end and it was a year ago this weekend that Evan MacDonald (18.3 ppg) announced his arrival with a mind boggling 10 three pointers against the undefeated Astros.
Pinkerton has the shooters to contend all night with the Central big three of Jalen Leroy (24.5 ppg), Jonathan Makori (17.5) and MacDonald but it would be wiser to attack a smaller Central team on the low block. 6’8 center Ben Olson (10 ppg) is going to be difficult to stop if he can get good position and at 6’4 Brennan Morris (15.4) has the game to take smaller guards like Makori in the post. If Pinkerton can attack the glass with Tommy Romick (14.2) and the biggest starting lineup in the state that may cause Central to collapse, thus opening up room for Morris and Matt Rizzo (13.2)
Central is beating teams with their offense early on. History tells us that with Doc Wheeler’s teams, the defense will soon catch up. Friday night Pinkerton needs to pound the ball down low and force Central to be the team that has to react.
Division II
Manchester West (3-1) at Bishop Brady (4-0)
The defending champs get their first look at a Top 3 team in what serves as their first measuring stick game of the new season. Joe Bell (23 ppg) is doing Joe Bell things (steals, rebounds, ball-handling, scoring, 50-50 raffles) while Bryce Johnson, we can now confirm the younger brother of Brendan, has stepped into the role of the third scorer alongside shooting guard Matt Quirk (14.5). Friday night, in a game Pete Tarrier and Jon Kesty will be covering, the Giants need to push the pace and not get overwhelmed on the boards by the likes of Keenan Caron and Akok Akok, who had his breakout game Tuesday night against Hollis-Brookline with 19 points.
If the 6’8 Akok gets good post position he has to be fronted in the post with a weak side defender at the ready to come over. That should open up the corner for a shooter like Joe Simpson and the driving lanes for point guard Jacobee Burpee. That’s where Bell shows his value. The all-state guard is going to have to cover multiple spots and his help defense can be just as effective as his on the ball ability to disrupt ball handlers.
The concern with Cole Etten’s team in the pre-season was where the points were going to come from. That’s played itself out,. Brady can score enough to beat anybody. How will they defend bigger players like Caron, Akok and Joey Glynn of Portsmouth? We get our first sense of that Friday night.
I also wanted to take a moment to thank Bishop Brady head coach Cole Etten for becoming a Gold Level Supporter of NHsportspage for a second year in a row. Cole now will be receiving the Full game video of every game we cover…meaning he has already gotten a look at Portsmouth, Lebanon & Manchester West. Hey it helps when you do your homework…..
Division III
Bow (2-4) at Gilford (2-3)
Two teams that did not expect to be hovering below .500 at any point of the season find themselves there with the midway point nearing.
Chris Gaudreau’s Bow team started 2-0 but that’s when the struggles began. Bow wasn’t going to beat Pelham on December 22nd but it was a good measuring stick game and they were able to hang with Matt Regan’s team early on before getting Keith Browned in the second half (that term now replacing last year’s term: Kabongo’d). With games against Conant and Kearsarge looming Bow might have gotten caught looking ahead in a 54-43 loss to Mascoma. Jim Barry is a terrific coach and Alex Schwartz is the best player in Division III you’re not going to see this year but that was a bad loss. The Mascoma floor is smaller than most playground sandboxes but Bow needed to be 3-1 going into the Conant game.
Instead they were 2-3 coming out of it and lost their fourth consecutive game to Kearsarge (and angry Kearsarge team after the Hopkinton heartbreaker I’m guessing) and now they face the alma mater to try & stop the skid.
The question for my Golden Eagles in the pre-season was where were the points coming from? Zach Djabelarbi was the only given, and his 20 point per game average led Gilford early on. Losses at Winnisquam and at home to Kearsarge could be excused but when Djabelarbi injured his ankle in the Holiday Tournament this all of the sudden became a mediocre offense. Point guard Carter Mercer is there to run the show and is smart enough to look down low to one of the biggest frontcourts in the division.
Junior shooting guard Mason McGonagle needs to step up into a bigger role with Djabelarbi out and even after his return. Gilford lost to Belmont 60-56 without their leading scorer and needs to right the ship in a hurry with Adam Nelson (14.7) , Nate Alford (11.5) and Mike Malette coming in Friday night.
There are teams in Division III who are going to take advantage of their weak schedules, a fifth loss by Bow this early puts a home game in jeopardy weeks before it should have ever been a concern.
Inter-Lakes (5-1) at Mascoma (1-4)
Ok I better address this before they catch on in Meredith.
Yes Inter-Lakes is the team I alluded to in the Holiday Thoughts column and yes I am happy for the great start the Lakers are off to. I’m also dubious as to where they rank in the Division III pecking order…allow me to make my case.
The Lakers are 5-1 and they are doing it behind a very good sophomore Zach Swanson (17.2), steady guard play from point guard/quarterback Ryan Kelly and Moultonborough transfer Matt Norton, a very good rebounding forward. The Lakers own wins over Moultonborough, Berlin, Newfound (twice), and Franklin with loss at Winnisquam.
You can only play the games on the schedule but the Lakers own maybe the easiest schedule in Division III. The likelihood of them finishing 14-4 is very good. Inter-Lakes will play four games against Newfound and Division IV Moultonborough (1-10 combined) as well as well as games against Newport (0-5), White Mountains (their only win came against Newfound) and possibly only two teams on their schedule that will finish with at least nine wins.
If it plays out the way we think it’s a terrific season for a Lakers program that has struggled to even make the tournament the past ten seasons.
If it’s about getting to Southern New Hampshire for the Final Four and competing for a title there is a strong chance the Lakers won’t be battle tested enough to make it happen, regardless of how strong their record may be.
Division IV
Portsmouth Christian (5-0) at Epping (5-0)
The game of the night and Justin McIsaac, Jennifer Chick & I will be in the house that Ryan Gatchell built Friday night.
I expect both of these teams to go at each other at a pretty good pace. Portsmouth Christian has the confidence they can score with anyone and Epping has the experience of winning big games, no matter the speed. I would be very surprised if either head coach backed off and tried to grind out a win. Both teams are expecting to win and each team has good reason to feel that way.
PCA head coach ‘The Big Smooth’ Lewis Atkins has done a very nice job of spreading the touches around on offense. Kylani LaFleur is the best pure scorer on the team but also has been a good facilitator early on as Paul Staude and Drew McCormick have each had their moments. With Nute, Farmington and Moultonborough all down this year (boy it feels like we are beating up on Moultonborough today…my apologies to the Swedberg’s) PCA has the inside track to a Top 4 seed and a pair of home playoff games. A win here puts them in very good shape.
Epping got all they could handle in a win over Newmarket last week, and this game will be the third against a pre-season Top 6 team, all at home. Sean Young’s team still has to play away games at Sunapee, Newmarket (I’ll be there for that one..), Wilton-Lyndeborough, Derryfield and a rematch with Portsmouth Christian in the season finale. That makes protecting their home court Friday night vital to their Top 4 aspirations.
Why keep harping on the need to finish in the Top 4? What sounds easier to you; a home game against a team you know you have a better resume than or a three hour bus ride to Groveton in a gym you’ve never stepped foot in in your life? Exactly, it matters in Division IV more than any other division in New Hampshire.
Friday night is a night where My Man Colby Wilson and Dylan Derosier need to play like the first team all-state performers they are and we find out who, when PCA absolutely positively needs a basket late, has the ball in his hands.
The New Hampshire High School Hoop Show is on every Saturday morning from 9 to 11 am. Pete Tarrier & I give you the scores of every game in the state Friday night and breakdown all four divisions. Our guests Saturday will be Manchester West head coach Danny Bryson & The Big Smooth Lewis Atkins of Portsmouth Christian as well as our weekly call with Justin McIsaac that usually straddles the line between thought provoking & absurdity.
Listen In simply by clicking on the LISTEN LIVE link on our website Listen to ESPN NH LIVE
Or by listening on your free Tune in Radio app or radio to ESPN NH (900 & 1250 AM)
We have begun to hear from some of the parents of the players we cover. The videos you watch and even previews & columns like this one are only a small part of the work that goes into our website and in the last week we’ve started to hear from you parents out there. Parents, that wanted to support all the free work we do and content we provide, with their son. We hope that it is a trend that continues. Thank you very much to Kevin & Colby Wilson of Epping, Brian & Corey Gadwah of Groveton, Bill & Ben Olson of Pinkerton, Brian & Matt Quirk of Bishop Brady and Jamie & Austin Lesperance of Groveton. All of them will appear together on our Season Highlight Videos (two of them this year) with the other Gold Level Members of our team.
Division I
Merrimack (4-1) at Exeter (3-1)
I warned everyone in the pre-season that if you attempted to draw too many conclusions from the night to night results of Division I you’d be dealing with a serious popsicle headache.
Try following this: Merrimack beats Bedford by 25 points, Bishop Guertin then beats Merrimack by 17, only to then turn around and lose to Nashua South by 35…..a Nashua South team that lost to Pinkerton..who lost to Winnacunnet….who just lost to Bedford.
Do you want to keep doing this? Good neither do I.
You get the point. So don’t be shocked that Londonderry beat Exeter fairly easily Tuesday night (in our Game of the Week) because it’s all about how teams match up with one another. In this one I’ll save my pick until forced to name a team in staff picks tomorrow but you have to like the way Merrimack matches up with Exeter. Expect Merrimack head coach Tim Goodridge to assign Andrew Wojack to either Cody Morissette (17.5 ppg) or Bryant Holmes (19.3). The Tomahawks come in with the top rated defense in Division I (44.6 ppg allowed) and this is a game they want in the 50’s.
Manchester Central (4-0) at Pinkerton Academy (4-1)
Central head coach Doc Wheeler and Pinkerton head coach Peter Rosinski have been squaring off for over a decade. That gives each of them a pretty good sense of what the guy at the other end of the sideline is up to. Central has had a very good track record of being able to turn the Astros three quarter pressure into good looks at the other end and it was a year ago this weekend that Evan MacDonald (18.3 ppg) announced his arrival with a mind boggling 10 three pointers against the undefeated Astros.
Pinkerton has the shooters to contend all night with the Central big three of Jalen Leroy (24.5 ppg), Jonathan Makori (17.5) and MacDonald but it would be wiser to attack a smaller Central team on the low block. 6’8 center Ben Olson (10 ppg) is going to be difficult to stop if he can get good position and at 6’4 Brennan Morris (15.4) has the game to take smaller guards like Makori in the post. If Pinkerton can attack the glass with Tommy Romick (14.2) and the biggest starting lineup in the state that may cause Central to collapse, thus opening up room for Morris and Matt Rizzo (13.2)
Central is beating teams with their offense early on. History tells us that with Doc Wheeler’s teams, the defense will soon catch up. Friday night Pinkerton needs to pound the ball down low and force Central to be the team that has to react.
Division II
Manchester West (3-1) at Bishop Brady (4-0)
The defending champs get their first look at a Top 3 team in what serves as their first measuring stick game of the new season. Joe Bell (23 ppg) is doing Joe Bell things (steals, rebounds, ball-handling, scoring, 50-50 raffles) while Bryce Johnson, we can now confirm the younger brother of Brendan, has stepped into the role of the third scorer alongside shooting guard Matt Quirk (14.5). Friday night, in a game Pete Tarrier and Jon Kesty will be covering, the Giants need to push the pace and not get overwhelmed on the boards by the likes of Keenan Caron and Akok Akok, who had his breakout game Tuesday night against Hollis-Brookline with 19 points.
If the 6’8 Akok gets good post position he has to be fronted in the post with a weak side defender at the ready to come over. That should open up the corner for a shooter like Joe Simpson and the driving lanes for point guard Jacobee Burpee. That’s where Bell shows his value. The all-state guard is going to have to cover multiple spots and his help defense can be just as effective as his on the ball ability to disrupt ball handlers.
The concern with Cole Etten’s team in the pre-season was where the points were going to come from. That’s played itself out,. Brady can score enough to beat anybody. How will they defend bigger players like Caron, Akok and Joey Glynn of Portsmouth? We get our first sense of that Friday night.
I also wanted to take a moment to thank Bishop Brady head coach Cole Etten for becoming a Gold Level Supporter of NHsportspage for a second year in a row. Cole now will be receiving the Full game video of every game we cover…meaning he has already gotten a look at Portsmouth, Lebanon & Manchester West. Hey it helps when you do your homework…..
Division III
Bow (2-4) at Gilford (2-3)
Two teams that did not expect to be hovering below .500 at any point of the season find themselves there with the midway point nearing.
Chris Gaudreau’s Bow team started 2-0 but that’s when the struggles began. Bow wasn’t going to beat Pelham on December 22nd but it was a good measuring stick game and they were able to hang with Matt Regan’s team early on before getting Keith Browned in the second half (that term now replacing last year’s term: Kabongo’d). With games against Conant and Kearsarge looming Bow might have gotten caught looking ahead in a 54-43 loss to Mascoma. Jim Barry is a terrific coach and Alex Schwartz is the best player in Division III you’re not going to see this year but that was a bad loss. The Mascoma floor is smaller than most playground sandboxes but Bow needed to be 3-1 going into the Conant game.
Instead they were 2-3 coming out of it and lost their fourth consecutive game to Kearsarge (and angry Kearsarge team after the Hopkinton heartbreaker I’m guessing) and now they face the alma mater to try & stop the skid.
The question for my Golden Eagles in the pre-season was where were the points coming from? Zach Djabelarbi was the only given, and his 20 point per game average led Gilford early on. Losses at Winnisquam and at home to Kearsarge could be excused but when Djabelarbi injured his ankle in the Holiday Tournament this all of the sudden became a mediocre offense. Point guard Carter Mercer is there to run the show and is smart enough to look down low to one of the biggest frontcourts in the division.
Junior shooting guard Mason McGonagle needs to step up into a bigger role with Djabelarbi out and even after his return. Gilford lost to Belmont 60-56 without their leading scorer and needs to right the ship in a hurry with Adam Nelson (14.7) , Nate Alford (11.5) and Mike Malette coming in Friday night.
There are teams in Division III who are going to take advantage of their weak schedules, a fifth loss by Bow this early puts a home game in jeopardy weeks before it should have ever been a concern.
Inter-Lakes (5-1) at Mascoma (1-4)
Ok I better address this before they catch on in Meredith.
Yes Inter-Lakes is the team I alluded to in the Holiday Thoughts column and yes I am happy for the great start the Lakers are off to. I’m also dubious as to where they rank in the Division III pecking order…allow me to make my case.
The Lakers are 5-1 and they are doing it behind a very good sophomore Zach Swanson (17.2), steady guard play from point guard/quarterback Ryan Kelly and Moultonborough transfer Matt Norton, a very good rebounding forward. The Lakers own wins over Moultonborough, Berlin, Newfound (twice), and Franklin with loss at Winnisquam.
You can only play the games on the schedule but the Lakers own maybe the easiest schedule in Division III. The likelihood of them finishing 14-4 is very good. Inter-Lakes will play four games against Newfound and Division IV Moultonborough (1-10 combined) as well as well as games against Newport (0-5), White Mountains (their only win came against Newfound) and possibly only two teams on their schedule that will finish with at least nine wins.
If it plays out the way we think it’s a terrific season for a Lakers program that has struggled to even make the tournament the past ten seasons.
If it’s about getting to Southern New Hampshire for the Final Four and competing for a title there is a strong chance the Lakers won’t be battle tested enough to make it happen, regardless of how strong their record may be.
Division IV
Portsmouth Christian (5-0) at Epping (5-0)
The game of the night and Justin McIsaac, Jennifer Chick & I will be in the house that Ryan Gatchell built Friday night.
I expect both of these teams to go at each other at a pretty good pace. Portsmouth Christian has the confidence they can score with anyone and Epping has the experience of winning big games, no matter the speed. I would be very surprised if either head coach backed off and tried to grind out a win. Both teams are expecting to win and each team has good reason to feel that way.
PCA head coach ‘The Big Smooth’ Lewis Atkins has done a very nice job of spreading the touches around on offense. Kylani LaFleur is the best pure scorer on the team but also has been a good facilitator early on as Paul Staude and Drew McCormick have each had their moments. With Nute, Farmington and Moultonborough all down this year (boy it feels like we are beating up on Moultonborough today…my apologies to the Swedberg’s) PCA has the inside track to a Top 4 seed and a pair of home playoff games. A win here puts them in very good shape.
Epping got all they could handle in a win over Newmarket last week, and this game will be the third against a pre-season Top 6 team, all at home. Sean Young’s team still has to play away games at Sunapee, Newmarket (I’ll be there for that one..), Wilton-Lyndeborough, Derryfield and a rematch with Portsmouth Christian in the season finale. That makes protecting their home court Friday night vital to their Top 4 aspirations.
Why keep harping on the need to finish in the Top 4? What sounds easier to you; a home game against a team you know you have a better resume than or a three hour bus ride to Groveton in a gym you’ve never stepped foot in in your life? Exactly, it matters in Division IV more than any other division in New Hampshire.
Friday night is a night where My Man Colby Wilson and Dylan Derosier need to play like the first team all-state performers they are and we find out who, when PCA absolutely positively needs a basket late, has the ball in his hands.
The New Hampshire High School Hoop Show is on every Saturday morning from 9 to 11 am. Pete Tarrier & I give you the scores of every game in the state Friday night and breakdown all four divisions. Our guests Saturday will be Manchester West head coach Danny Bryson & The Big Smooth Lewis Atkins of Portsmouth Christian as well as our weekly call with Justin McIsaac that usually straddles the line between thought provoking & absurdity.
Listen In simply by clicking on the LISTEN LIVE link on our website Listen to ESPN NH LIVE
Or by listening on your free Tune in Radio app or radio to ESPN NH (900 & 1250 AM)